Chapter 3184 Mage Towers (Part 4)

Chapter 3184 Mage Towers (Part 4)

"I'm sorry, but it's not my secret. Lith and Byt would hate me if I talked about it." Zoreth wringed her hands like a baby girl scared of facing her father's disappointed gaze.

"Don't apologize. You sound like me with Zin." He sighed. "If there's someone on Mogar who can understand you, that's me. I'm many things, but not a hypocrite."

"Thanks, Dad!" She stopped walking, hugging the old Professor and spinning him in the air with ease. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

'While my father just sits there and watches us struggle, even his beloved Elysia, my dad is right by my side.' Zoreth thought.

"Don't mention it and put me down. This is embarrassing. I look old enough to be your grandfather, not your child!"

"Appearances are deceiving." She chuckled.

They took a deep breath before opening the door to the children's room. They had one shot at it and had to play it right, if not even dirty.

"Daddy!" Frey ran to Vastor, the word cracking the ice on the Master's heart every time he heard it.

"Frey, my boy. How was school today?" He lifted the child like Zoreth had done with him a few seconds back, meeting a first-class pout. "I mean, how was school today, son?"

The Master called all his favorite students my boy/girl making the moniker not endearing to Filia's and Frey's ears.

"It was great, Dad." The boy stopped pouting, giving Vastor a big smile and hugging him back. "Is Uncle Lith alright?"

"That's actually the reason we've come here." Zoreth cleared her throat while her gaze moved from the blue wolf on the floor to the red wolf on the bed.

Filia was brushing the red wolf's fur while four "house staff members" stood at the corners of the room, leaving no blind spot.

"Filia, Frey, we need your help."

"How can we help Uncle Lith?" Filia asked in confusion.

"By giving Tezka permission to leave your side and go looking for the bad guy who hurt my little brother." Zoreth replied.

***

Griffon Kingdom, Nestrar Region, on top of a mana geyser a few hours later.

Derek moved his eyes from the emerald construct conjured by Mother's Embrace to Ragnarök and back, waiting for a revelation.

"How come that until yesterday every small thing gave me flashbacks like I suffer from world-class PTSD and now nothing happens?" He squinted at Elina's kind features yet all those warm feelings were gone. "Who are you, lady?"

The use of such a respectful word surprised Derek as much as the Voidfeather Dragon. It was spoken with curiosity and a tinge of affection instead of spite.

'Maybe there's still hope.' The Voidfeather pushed at the now crystalized barrier between the life forces, trying to let in what he had desperately tried to keep out until the day before.

The Void unwittingly helped him, Derek's need for knowledge drove him to scour the most remote corners of his mind. As the Void pulled, the Voidfeather pushed, forcing the door between the life forces slightly ajar.

"Mother." Derek fell to his knees while holding his head.

Countless memories flooded the Void's mind and none of them made sense.

Somehow, he remembered being a newborn. He could see the love in Elina's eyes as she looked at him and called him her miracle baby. Derek witnessed how a real mother took care of her son.

She fed him even when it meant going on an empty stomach herself. She defended him against bullies like a mean-looking older boy and from the mean words of the old woman, Nana, on the day of their first meeting.

In none of those memories did she raise her hand on him. She never ignored him and if he remained silent for too long, she would check on him to make sure he was alright.

The only times Elina scolded him it wasn't because she wanted to show him who knew better, but because the young Lith had put himself into danger and she worried about him.

"This can't be. None of that ever happened to me. This must be the other guy's memories forcing their way into my brain." Yet those images didn't feel alien.

Derek felt a pleasant warmth in his chest while pondering them. If wasn't like living another person's memories. He was almost certain that he had lived those events. Every detail and every word were on the tip of his mind.

Almost.

"Lucky bastard." The Void grumbled. "Whoever the piece of shit I'm currently inhabiting is, he can't have become an evil overlord because of his mother."